Hive Complex
by Yuhi Sakura
Summary: “I’ll go after Orochimaru.” Naruto hastily volunteered as his eyes fell on the mess before them. “Sure,” Sakura sighed as she eyed the hall of hissing serpents, “Leave us with all the hard work.”
1. Prologue: Shooting Star

_**Prologue: Shooting Star**_

_**Disclaimer: Sorry, yup, I don't own the Naruto or Alien/Predator franchises. ^^**_

_**A/N: I'm a total Alien-Predator trip right now, hence this fanfiction. If you don't like, don't read. That simple. For the more open-minded, I hope I don't disappoint!**_

_**P.S: Full credit for musical inspiration goes to the theme for Chibi Vampire (also known as Chibi Vampire Karin or just Karin) **__**Scarlet**__** by Brace'd!**_

Naruto glanced up into the dark velvet sky, his eyes falling on the billions of pinpoints of light scattered across the dark expanse.

"Do you ever wonder what's out there?" He asked.

Sakura thought about it for a moment before sitting up, her hand dancing lightly across her mouth to stifle a giggle before she replied, "I don't think I've ever really thought about it."

"Really?" He asked, folding his hands under his head.

"Well, with everything we deal with down here," she punctuated this with a wave of her hand to the land around them, "when do we have time to think about what's up there?" Her hand lilted up to the endless sky.

He laughed, "I suppose."

Sakura rolled over, flopping lightly on her toned abdomen as she turned her head to him. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." He smiled.

"You?" She snorted playfully, "Thinking? You must not be feeling well."

He laughed again, rolling onto his stomach to better face her.

The kunoichi beside him absently toyed with a blade of grass before rolling back onto the green underneath them. Naruto did the same beside her, his arms cushioning his head.

"I wonder what Sasuke's up to." Sakura stated a moment later.

"He's around." Naruto assured her.

"Oh, I know. I was just thinking out loud." She replied with a soft smile.

"We should go get some ramen later." He chirped back.

"Yeah. But we're dragging Sai and Sasuke along this time." She responded.

"Totally! And Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura giggled again, flinging aside the small leaflet of grass.

Her green eyes flicked sideways to Naruto and for a moment she studied him: though it washed his hair out, his eyes were quite stunning in the moonlight, and his skin looked even more golden with the moonlight illuminating it. She was just about to open her mouth to speak to him again when he suddenly cried out, "Look!"

Her head snapped up, her eyes finding the streak of light that sprang across the sky. It danced briefly against the black cloth of night before disappearing below the tree line.

"Make a wish." He told her.

Sakura smiled at him, "I have everything I want."

Naruto gave his signature goofy grin back at her.

Neither of them saw the halo of light that suddenly sprang faintly from the trees miles off and just as quickly died out again.

* * *

The shattered container's side gave way to the scurrying creature inside. Its brothers and sisters had long since made their way from their containers and were now skittering along the underbrush towards the warm and waiting hosts in the city not far off.

* * *

Sasuke snorted to himself as he called to the incessant knocking, "Coming!"

Naturally, the moment he opened the door two sets of hands latched onto him and pulled him through the door frame. He barely had time to twist the door closed behind him before he was hauled into the street.

"Yes?" He sighed impatiently.

"Ramen." Sakura replied with a smile as she looped her arms around his, Naruto clapping his hand against the Uchiha's back.

The raven-haired youth just sigh, though his lips turned up in a good-natured smirk. This was just…the team dynamic. It was similar to their genin days, but with an overtone of maturity and an undertone of oneness. How could their not be with everything they had seen and done together? But it was reassuring, even to the stoic Uchiha, that _they_ had survived the test of time…and his betrayal.

He still remembered being shocked by their smiling faces as they literally dragged his semi-conscious body through the gates of Konoha. Both of them were beat up fairly badly, having gotten between him and Itachi. It was because of them that he had defeated him at all.

And in the time since then, he had slowly come to trust and, he would _never_ admit this even under pain of _death_, grow fond of them. There was camaraderie between them and a level of acceptance he hadn't found anywhere else. He even rather enjoyed occasionally being forced from his home for the stupidest reasons. Like tonight…Again, not that he would _ever_ admit it.

But he didn't need to. They had become quite adept at reading each other. In battle, in casual conversation, it didn't matter. They had even begun to occasionally finish each other's sentences…and each other's attacks…

"That's what you dragged me out here for?" He grunted.

"Believe it!" Naruto replied.

"Naturally." Sakura smiled as they veered down the street and into the small shop.

Their orders were placed quickly and within a few minutes Ayame was laying out their bowls in front of them and handing them their chopsticks.

"Thanks!" Naruto replied loudly as he pulled off the wrapper and broke them apart unevenly, leaving the tips jagged. But that didn't stop him from delving into his usual order of pork ramen.

"Where does he put it all?" Ayame giggled as she wiped down the counter.

"Well, at least you won't be going out of business anytime soon!" Sakura replied as she broke her own chopsticks apart.

Sasuke just smirked as he lifted a set of noodles to his mouth.

"This is the best!" Naruto cried out.

"Try to keep it down." Sasuke admonished.

"Make me!" The blond yelled.

"Boys!" Sakura growled maternally before turning to her own ramen.

Both of them sighed, but were kind enough to shut up for once…or at least until Naruto mumbled something she didn't quite catch that had Sasuke up in arms faster than Itachi would have…

"I said settle down!" Sakura cried, her fist coming down on the counter hard enough to crack it.

The impact was enough to jar both of them back to their senses, but not enough to stop the verbal sparring that seemed inevitable to begin with.

"Loser." Sasuke hissed.

"Idiot!"

"Fool."

"Teme!"

"Jerk."

Their contest was interrupted suddenly by a high, melodious pitch. They both glanced back at Sakura as she removed the pager from the holster on her hip and glanced at it. An odd expression came over her face, but quickly, as a kunoichi of her skill was so adept at doing, it was covered up.

"Whoops, sorry guys, I have to cut this short." She stated stoically as she tucked it back in her belt.

"What's going on?" Sasuke demanded.

"Nothing." She replied…a little too quickly and waspishly for him…

But he knew better than to press her. When her persona changed that suddenly, it meant something of particular concern had just occurred, and she was clearly in a hurry to get to the hospital. He watched her carefully control her pace until she reached the corner and then pivot hard on the balls of her feet the way one would when breaking into a sprint and disappear around the bend.

"Wonder what that was about…?" Naruto trailed off through a mouth full of ramen.

"_Attempt_some manners, if you don't mind." Sasuke dead-panned.

Naruto angrily flung a chopstick at him, which the Uchiha easily caught and slammed down on the counter with an easy smirk.

"Three years and you have no more skills than a genin." He sighed.

"Hey!" Naruto cried angrily.

"Yes?" Sasuke replied.

"TEME!"

"If you're going to insult me, have the courtesy to do it logically." He smirked before walking away.

TBC

Opposites. Fire+Water. Push+Pull. Yin+Yang. Balance. Such is the nature of Zuko and Katara. They balance each other. Their passion is unknown by any other. They are opposites. Fire+Water. Push+Pull. Yin+Yang. Balance.


	2. Chapter One: Infection

_**Chapter One: Infection**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Alien/Predator franchises! **_

_**Standard Warnings: Yeah…this chapter has plenty of violence and some cursing. My apologies to my more conservative readers, but, seriously, when you're facing down a pack of xenomorphs what other response is there than "WTF?!" **_

"What the hell is happening here!?" Sakura demanded as she pulled a white lab coat over her shoulders and snatched the patient charts from the clearly panicked nurses swarming around her.

"We don't know!" One of them cried back, latching onto her coat.

Sakura lightly back-handed her, grabbed the next one over, shook her, released her, and smacked another across the back of her head. With some order restored---mostly due to shock on part of the nurses---Sakura stated, "We are going to calm down and figure this out. Now, take me to them!"

The nurses, grateful for orders, nodded and quickly ushered her into the Quarantine ward.

"Now what seems to be so…Oh, Kami…" Sakura's horror lowered her voice, cutting off her statement. Instinctively, she leaned back on her farther foot, seeking some distance.

"What on earth is it?" One of the nurses asked, panic making her voice high and watery.

"I don't know." Sakura admitted.

Sakura was just about to relay her plan of action when another call came up through the ER as two more patients were brought in, bringing the count to a dozen. And over the radio medical nin were calling in at least three more patients.

Sakura cursed loudly as she yanked her hair back into a neat ponytail and snapped a pair of latex gloves over her wrists. She approached the man and scanned him visually: there was something like a large spider, but more flattened, wrapped around his face, its eight legs wrapped around his head and a long tail wrapped tightly around his neck. The hold it had on his throat, she knew, was cutting off air and blood…So the organism had to be providing those things…a parasite.

She grabbed the creature, wondering how strong its hold was, but she quickly pulled back when it tightened around the victim's throat. She probed it lightly again with her chakra, careful not to so much as brush it with her hands lest it choke the poor man.

"Scapel." She finally said as she stripped off the gloves and tossed them in the biohazard bin on the wall. She'd have to cut it off…

The nurse jumped to get the requested supply for her, and Sakura turned to the nearest sink and began scrubbing her hands.

A surgeon, working on a patient over from her, had a similar idea and had already lined up his incision. He positioned the razor sharp instrument and applied gentle pressure…a yellow green fluid sudden spurted from the incision. It was his cry of alarm that caused Sakura to spin on her heels. The fluid gushed passed her in a neon green arc…and ate through the wall…

Her eyes flickered back down to the patient, where the acid was now eating through his neck and the exposed portion of his face…

"MOVE!" Sakura yelled, pushing the surgeon aside as her hands came over the wound. Chakra poured into it, one hand forcing the liquid into an orb in her right hand like she would a poison as the other filtered healing chakra into the burns.

She hadn't even completed the process when one of the nurses screamed again as the parasite on another patient's face dropped onto the ground, apparently dead.

But the kunoichi took it as a good sign…that meant they died off naturally…

She didn't even have time to breathe a sigh of relief when there was the audible snap of bone, tearing of flesh and cry of agony from someone who, she guessed by the appearance off, had his parasite drop of sometime ago…

Blood welled up from a sudden and unnatural and _moving_ deformity beneath the skin. He cried out again, only once more before something snapped through his ribcage.

Whatever it was, snapped and shrieked at the nearest nurse before it suddenly darted from the man's destroyed body and onto the floor. The personnel scrambled back despite a cry from several not to let it escape. Sakura, caged in behind panicked RNs, couldn't stop it. By the time she had fought her way through the tangle of limbs and white uniforms, it was all she could do to keep the poor man alive.

'Massive shock, hemorrhage, bruising of the lungs, heart, and diaphragm…' The list went on.

It was taking her and three other medics to stabilize him. Honestly, the damage to his chest wasn't as horrendous as it looked. But the biggest problem was the massive shock and the jagged shards of bone now floating in the blood filled cavity…

She ordered two other medics in, returning to her original patient. Sure enough, the parasite had dropped off…her hand came down on his chest.

She snapped back automatically, pressing her back against the wall for stability while she tried to collect her racing thoughts.

She had absolute authority on the floor. She answered to no one other than Tsunade herself. But that meant if she didn't make the right decision now, the outbreak would spread. Her breath hitched in her throat for a moment with that thought and she needed another full second to calm herself before finally saying, "Nurses are to evacuate now. Doctors, too. I will have only trained, certified combat medics on the floor. Get Lady Tsunade down her and call out a warning to the all the other Nations. Tell them how to identify these things, include all known information with emphasis on the dangers of their blood and the embryo they lay in the victim's chest. Seal the hospital and evacuate all other patients."

Taken aback by Sakura's clear indecision and worry, no one moved until she finally snapped, "NOW!"

Several smiled with the command; if Sakura had her fire back, they could muster some of their own. The room emptied quickly, another wave of combat medics moving in to replace them.

* * *

Tsunade was completely unprepared for the wave of hysteric nurses that flooded the aviary and her office. Very few were cohesively thinking, let alone speaking with cognizance. It took almost a full minute to get any information out of them, including Sakura's initial orders.

But after that things just…stopped. She sighed impatiently; she was Hokage, not a damn babysitter. Massaging her temple, she waited one more moment for them to carry out their orders before finally snapping, "You have your orders, now get going!"

"So…you agree?" One of the female RNs asked tentatively.

"Obviously!" Tsunade bellowed as she stormed through the mass and towards the hospital, Shizune appearing in line behind her.

"Should I seal our borders?" The aide asked.

"Yes." Tsunade replied, before turning around to face her and adding, "And assembled the jonin. This can't spread. No matter the cost."

Shizune nodded, TonTon copying the movement from the confines of her arms, before she spun on her heeled feet and down the opposite hall.

* * *

"Stop the bleeding! Now!" Sakura yelled as another man, this one with a hole already torn through his chest, was carried in.

"Where is the parasite?" She demanded of the chunin that hauled the unfortunate genin in.

"I found him like that." The ninja replied.

"Damn it!" Sakura cried. "Two of those things are on the loose. Kami…this is spreading…"

"Sakura, status."

Sakura's lips pulled up with relief as she rattled over the entire thing to her mentor. In less than three seconds, Tsunade had the information she needed.

"Shizune is sealing our borders now. And messages have been sent to the other nations informing them of the situation."

"Thank goodness." Her apprentice huffed, her breathing coming heavily with excursion, panic, and adrenaline.

"How many patients are on the floor now?"

"I lost count at eighteen."

Tsunade paled visibly.

"Lady Tsunade…I have reason to believe those creatures are still juveniles…But what they're going to grow into…" Sakura trailed off.

Sakura saw that the idea scared her mentor, too; but only because she knew her well enough to see the sudden flicker in her eyes that died back almost instantly. But it was enough to still her heart for at least a moment.

"Sakura, listen closely to me, it's unlikely that all of the infected have or will be found before those creatures are born. This is spreading like wildfire and we don't have the information we need yet to fully combat it. At anytime, we may need to adapt."

Sakura recognized the line well; Tsunade had drilled it into her from day one of her intense training period. "A combat medic is first and foremost still a ninja."

Tsunade's pink lips pulled up in a knowing smile of approval as she righted herself and began barking orders to her subordinates.

Sakura stood there for another moment, pushing her damp hair away from her face and wiping sweat away from her eyes before she walked in the opposite direction and began giving orders to those on the other side of the wing.

* * *

Sasuke's sharp eyes noted the sudden lack of jonin…and the increased number of hawks flying over the skies of above Konoha.

Chakra filled his eyes, the ebony orbs flashing crimson for a moment. They settled on one of the hawks, then on the tiny tube on its leg…and the yellow chakra emanating residually from it.

'Iruka's…'

He felt his adrenaline spike, his hand coming down on the hilt of the Kusanagi blade at his hip…

Something very wrong was going on…

* * *

Kakashi's uncovered eye roved the dense, dark, and wet foliage and trees that so thickly surrounded Konoha. Chakra burned mildly around his Sharigan, his spare chakra collecting around the center of his being. Preemptive on his part…he wanted to be able to utilize his chakra even faster than usual. Kurenai, Anko, Asuma, Gai, Neji…all the jonin in the village were on high alert, and if things didn't improve quickly, so would the chunin. There was already talk of evacuating the civilians into the underground tunnels.

His mouth turned down in a frown, his mask covering the expression. It was one thing to face another shinobi, because to do that you had to be one…you had to know, intimately, the tools of war and death. But to face something driven only by instinct…driven only to breed and feed…

That was something entirely different.

* * *

Sakura's cheek tore open as another creature erupted from a man's chest as he flat-lined. The stun stilled her normally impeccable evasion timing, and the creature's tail lashed against her face hard enough to split the skin. Before she could turn around, it had already clambered into the ventilation system.

She cursed again as she reached into the jagged tear in the man's chest and wrapped her hands gently around his heart. At the very least, that serpent had managed to save her the trouble of opening him up herself. But the physical shock of its twisted birth was making it impossible for her to stabilize him. She hated herself for doing it, but she pulled back and called the time. The automated video and audio equipment would record it and later it would be documented on paper.

"Forgive me…" She whispered to him before turning to the next patient. But if she had tried to save him, it would have completely exhausted her chakra reserves. And there were others who needed it…

"Any success, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura called across the room.

"No." The blonde hissed, wrist deep in a woman's torso. "I can't remove it without cutting it…and I can't cut it."

Sakura growled to herself. These things were the perfect parasites. They left no way to aid a victim, at least not before the creatures emerged from their chests. Meaning their survival was almost guaranteed…and with a total of at least five escaped creatures from the hospital alone, Sakura knew they were in trouble. How many infected were unaccounted for?

"We're out of blood!"

This couldn't get any worse; both of the head medics knew it.

Sakura snapped to action before even Tsunade could, "All O- blood types, you will, effective immediately, double as walking donors. Prep your marrow now!"

There was a moment of silence as the medics hands came up in varying hand seals to focus their chakra around their femurs and tibias. The air grew heavy for a moment with the sudden influx of energy, and time seemed to slow down for an instant before speeding up with frightening clarity.

* * *

Sasuke was suddenly struck by something…the odd timing of the entire thing. Why, so shortly after an emergency page to the hospital, would every shut down. There was the very real possibility they weren't related at all…but intuition said differently.

For a moment, he hesitated: if he was wrong, how could he explain his appearance at the hospital? Then he quickly berated himself for worrying more about his image than his comrade. Besides, he could always just walk in, peek in, and step out without leaving a trail of any kind.

* * *

Sakura ripped the needle from her arm, numb to the sharp rip of the flesh. She quickly hooked the IV back to a saline drip, rubbing the sore spot in the crook of her arm to ease the throb.

She glanced up at the other medics, all of who were as exhausted as she was. They didn't have the capacity to keep up with this many patients…and, worse, there was the heavy tension in the air---reeking of adrenaline and fear---that she felt before a battle…

She looked to her mentor for support, but Tsunade was too tired and too preoccupied even to offer a smile of reassurance…

More had come in and now they were well over their capacity. And, assuming that the military rations they were swallowing like candy were enough to sustain the chakra output they needed, their tangible supply stock was not…They simply couldn't keep up with the need for blood, pain medication, and saline solution.

Hypothetically speaking, they could manufacture those with their chakra, force the marrow of either themselves or their patients to produce more blood, synthesize beta-endorphins with their chakra, and even purify tap water for use in saline bags…but that would drain them completely…

'Three days, they say. THREE DAYS!' She thought angrily as she choked back her third military ration that night. But combat was easier that the crap they were dealing with. Not to mention they couldn't contain half of the parasites that were bursting from the chests of others. The things were fast, vicious, and their highly corrosive body secretions made killing them impossible. The fluid was maintained under such pressure that if they attempted an attack, the greenish-yellow ooze went everywhere, endangering the medics and their patients and the limited equipment they had.

"Someone has to go…" She finally muttered.

"What?" Tsunade snapped waspishly in the stress of the situation.

"We need supplies!" Sakura cried back.

"Sakura!" Tsunade growled.

"I had the most highly qualified combat medic here aside from you. You know that! I stand the best chance of retrieving our supplies and getting back alive."

Tsunade pulled her bottom lip through her teeth, staining them pink. She didn't want to admit it…she didn't want to endanger her apprentice. She even had a rational excuse: they needed her on the floor. But Sakura was right…

"I swear to Kami…if you get infected…"

Sakura's insipid lips pulled up in a smirk, "You'll save me and then kick my ass, I know."

"Not necessarily in that order." The Fifth replied with a lilt of her slender eyebrow.

Sakura just sighed in quiet resignation, her expression never falling as she turned away from the chaos and down the hall.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Uchiha-san, the hospital has been sealed."

Sasuke glared at her evenly until she averted her eyes, muttering a broken apology.

"I'm getting in there." He stated, "Whether you help me or not."

"Leave." She snapped back before she herself scurried away from the door.

Reasoning that at the very least her absence made life a hell of a lot easier for him, he kicked in the barred door, drew his blade, walked to the elevator, stepped inside, and pushed a button.

* * *

Sakura kicked in the door that had been sealed. Surprisingly effective, it took her a moment to break the seal before the door gave way beneath her knee. She glanced out, realizing for the first time that the power had gone out…but what had she expected? Her night really couldn't get much worse…at least the back-up generating was keeping the ER ward operating. That meant that things like the elevators should still be working…

She stepped into the hall, horrified to see the darkened walls covered in a wet resin that coated the halls, the ceiling…she felt like she was in the middle of a particularly thick spider web…

She heard a soft hiss rise in the all too quiet air and she turned her head over her shoulder.

Her night had just gotten a _hell_ _of a lot_ worse…

* * *

Sasuke snorted disdainfully as something heavy clambered above him. But for some reason the sudden weight disappeared and the elevator again began its ascent, only now its passenger was fully alert and awake.

Chakra spilled red into his eyes, and electricity pulse anticipatorily from his palms.

The door opened and he peered into the dark hall, noting the dripping goo from the ceiling and the halls and the reek of it. But nothing moved across his field of vision and he stepped through the doorway.

* * *

Sakura took a step back, her boots clicking loudly---too loudly she thought in her initial shock---and the creature's hiss rose again.

'What…what in the name of Kami is it?' She wondered.

It was taller than a human, but much thinner. It appeared to have some kind of dark exoskeleton covering its body. The skull was elongated and its mouth was a ragged gash of glassy, translucent fangs. Its hand had three fingers, all clawed. Behind it, its ridged tail swished…like a panther's might before it pounced…Its lips pulled back and some kind of…some kind of projection, complete with its own set of snapping teeth, plunged into the air…as if it was tasting the fear she was sure she was radiating. Along its spine were four…tubes? Projections? She wasn't sure, but she didn't know if they increased its lethality or not. She realized, too, for the first time as the tail snapped up over its head, that it was complete with a blade like projection…

But she recognized it almost instantly…it looked like a larger, more developed form the parasites they'd been combating all night.

Was its blood still as highly corrosive as it was in juveniles, she wondered. If so, that severely limited what she could use to combat it. Her hand dropped automatically to the holster still tied to her thigh and she pulled a shuriken, raising it as she lined up her shot. Snapping it forward, she saw it sink into the creature's sickly and emaciated chest. Blood spattered against the floor, the smell of burning plastic rising up.

The creature shrieked in pain, baring its teeth and charging her.

She only saw a sudden flash of black collide with a burst of blue light so intense it sent her stumbling. Her arm came up instinctively over her head to shield her eyes, her other hand springing out preemptively in front of the wake of corrosive blood she was sure was coming.

She felt a pull around her waist and cried out in alarm, waiting for pain to knife through her. The light died back almost instantly, a sword lying in the middle of the caustic blood…but seemingly unharmed by it.

Her head snapped up, green meeting black.

"Sasuke!" She cried.

"I trust you're going to inform me." He replied simply, his eyes flickering from hers to the burning plastic tile.

"I'll tell you on the way." She said, "We need to get to Lady Tsunade."

* * *

"Kami, this isn't good…" The tired Kage hissed, pushing her hair away from her eyes.

"Lady Tsunade…these things might already be in the streets." Sakura said.

"We have one option: We're evacuating to the tunnels beneath the village."

The medics scrambled to stabilize the remaining patients and rally their dwindling supplies. It was a reminding of how abysmally Sakura had failed in her original initiative.

"I'll go back…"

"No!" Tsunade snapped, "You two are in charge of getting a force together and nipping this in the bud!"

"But, Lady Tsunade…"

"I said 'Go!'" The Hokage replied.

Sakura hesitated for only a split second before she nodded. Then she picked up the nearest headset and began to radio command to the jonin surrounding the village.

TBC


	3. Chapter Two: Wind and Water

_**Chapter Two: Wind and Water**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Aliens-Predators franchise or Naruto!**_

"Great. Thanks." Sakura finally said, clicking the radio to a collar and snapping it around her neck. She slid the piece over her ear, approaching Sasuke and clipping a similar device around his neck and slipping the ear piece into place.

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei says he'll take care of it." She added as she adjusted the collar piece.

"Perfect. Now, you two will cover the other medics as we evacuate. Iruka has a squad assembled in the lobby to take us from there. You two will split from there, rally a defensive, and mount a counter-offensive." Tsunade said, motioning to the group of medics and gurneys behind her.

Sakura nodded as she pushed a loose strand of hair back into the ponytail that held the rest of it. Her bangs hung obstinately around her face, much to her chagrin. Really, this was just the nervous fidget before the plunge…

"Ready?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura nodded, tugging a black glove over her wrist, "Always."

The Uchiha gave a curt nod of acknowledgement as he approached the barricaded doors.

"Move fast." He added as Sakura stepped up.

Her head dipped in quiet agreement as she eyed the tangled mass of carts that kept the door sealed. She took a single breath and then she snapped a kick against the entire mass, sending it flying into the wall hard enough to pierce the thick partition between wards.

Sasuke leapt out in front of her, electricity pulsing in waves off of him. Anything within a fifteen food range in front of him was forced back instantly.

"Go!" He cried, pulling the Kusanagi.

Sakura sprinted out in front of the caravan, leading the charge into the resin-covered and damp ward. Sasuke followed after a moment later, covering from the rear.

The first creature she didn't even see until it leapt at her from a hollow in the hardening secretion. She snapped a high kick to its open and lethal jaw, but she couldn't fully use her strength. If she did, she would break apart the exoskeleton, sending acidic blood in all directions.

The blow, however, was forceful enough the creature's skull fractured with its consequent impact against the wall. Blood dripped dangerously from the wound.

Enraged, it charged her again. She leapt up, landing another kick to the opposite side of its head.

"Switch!" She cried to Sasuke as the caravan kept moving.

He blurred past her, taking up the lead position as she fell into rear guard. They couldn't afford to stop…they could too easily become hemmed in by those things.

Sakura glanced at the serpent as it struggled to lift itself from the floor before she finally finished the job with a set of shuriken and sprinted in closely behind the line of injured.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Naruto cried.

"Yes!" Shikamaru huffed impatiently, "Those are your orders!"

"Got it!" He cried back before charging into Konoha.

"He is so dead…" Ino sighed from behind him.

"Yeah…" Choji agreed.

"This is so tiresome." The Nara added as they turned down the street and darted in three different directions.

* * *

Sakura didn't even know what hit her. Only that a sudden weight crashed down on her and that it was followed by another, even more massive pressure against her back. She tried to roll with the impact, but instead only found herself pinned more awkwardly against the tile. The creature on top of her lowered its massive head, its inner set of jaws snapping at her once as if to subdue her.

She saw something scurry out of the corner of her eye and she barely ducked her head in time to avoid the leap of one of the parasitic embryo-carrying hosts. The clear show of self-preservation did not please the adult and it hissed threateningly at her.

"Oh, _shut up_!" She finally yelled back as she got her knee under the grate separating them and hefted it upwards. In the same motion, she flung a kunai at the scurrying, flesh-colored spider, pinning it to the wall. Rolling to her feet with the momentum of the toss, she ran after the group.

Ahead of her, they were loading gurneys into the elevator three at a time and sending them down to the lobby…and at a pace that a snail would find slow. This was the fourth and final hurdle…

"Hurry!" She cried as she turned the corner.

Behind her, sickly, ceiling grates clattered to the floor.

"Oh, damn it…" She trailed off tiredly as she turned to face the three creatures hissing at them.

She braced for their assault, but instead they just widened their range and began to close in slowly. Sakura stiffened, trying to keep an eye on all three and their various appendages.

And then…one attacked the other. Its inner jaws snapped across its kin's skull, sending blood spurting out. Sakura dodged it jerkily, pulling up far too hard on her right side. The mortally wounded creature barreled into the group and fell against the control panel of the door, coating it in neon green acid.

The shock of the realization stilled the entire group for a moment…

They…they were _learning_…and had just disabled their only means of escape.

* * *

"Hurry! Go! Go!" Iruka cried to the chunin under his command as they loaded the injured onto their backs and hauled them through the door.

But it didn't rise again…

He stepped into it and kicked out the ceiling exit, calling up to them. Sasuke, a story above him, peered down and curtly informed him of the situation.

He heard Sakura scream something back, but her sentence was drowned out by the sudden shriek of the odd creatures invading their village. He watched Sasuke's head snap up as he said something back before the Uchiha called down the shaft, "Be ready."

It took Iruka a moment to realize what they were going to do: carry the injured down on their backs, equipment and all still hooked to them. It was a risky gamble…if the shaft was compromised in any way, they were dead…all of them.

"We are!" He called back up as another chunin appeared and readied himself to take the victim. The first medic, seeing his chance, began to shimmy down the cable.

* * *

Sakura dove between their tails, the bladed extensions whipping just above her stomach and below her back. She couldn't bring her legs up or around with their tails over her and she landed hard against her shoulder blades, using the momentum to flip herself back onto her feet.

Pushing off against the resin covered wall behind her, she tossed a handful of shuriken. But both of the creatures leapt away in time to avoid them.

Behind her, a steady line of medics shimmied down the cable, patients in tow, as she held back the creatures, Sasuke covering the shaft itself. But they needed time and Sakura was running out of ways to distract the creatures.

It wasn't until Sasuke called to her that she realized she was clear to move.

"Go!" She yelled back.

He didn't like it, but he complied because to do otherwise would have endangered her further. The longer they stood and argued the point, the worse off they were. So he jumped into the shaft, using his chakra to adhere to the slick metal walls, and sprinted down the vertical corridor.

Sakura, seeing him disappear into the duct, turned to make a retreat herself when a third creature appeared from the resin slick walls and leapt at her. Its tail lashed lethally at her and she arched her spine, falling back into a flip and planting her hands on the ground for balance. Her feet had just touched solid ground when the ridged projection was whipped at her again. She didn't have time to draw her arms up and the most she could do was twist against her left arm. The impact was great enough to snap the bone in three places and sent her tumbling against the wall of the elevator shaft. A moment later the pit of her stomach dropped with the change in gravity…

The pink-haired girl gave a small gasp of surprised as gravity yanked her down. Instinctively, she wrapped her body around the cable, the lurch of the sudden stop nearly jarring her free.

"Sakura." Sasuke called from the bottom of the shaft.

"I'm going!" She snapped back, her broken arm hanging uselessly against her side.

"Sakura. Above you!"

Sakura's eyes flickered up to the mass of writhing creatures that were now descending upon her. There was no way with only one good arm she could manage the cable, and her chakra was so low, she doubted she could gather enough to adhere to a porous surface, let alone a slick metal one.

"Let go!" Sasuke called up to her.

"What?!" She cried in alarm.

"Let go!" He hissed again, leaning against the wall of the shaft, his arms open.

Sakura resisted the idea for a moment: she was a kunoichi, not the genin he had left on a park bench three years earlier. She could handle herself…or she would have been able to if the night hadn't drained her so thoroughly already.

"Sakura!" He cried.

Sakura looked up and found herself face to face with one of the creatures, its lips pulling back. She let go and dropped just out of reach of its inner jaws flicked through it teeth, the smaller fangs snapping audibly.

The pink-haired female free fell for several seconds before impacting surprisingly lightly against Sasuke's chest. He pulled back through before her weight had even settled in his arms. In her place he left an explosive tag. He forced the battered doors shut with his free hand a second before the tag erupted in a wave of flames, a thin bar of them licking through the damaged doors.

The smirk on his face was easy, confident…he knew he had just bested those slimly things again. And he wasn't one to hide his victory face.

"You're injured." He observed flatly a moment later.

"Thanks." She dead-panned, setting her own feet on the floor and freeing herself from his arms. Ripping the hem of her shirt free from the torso piece, she quickly wrapped her arm, tying off the knot with her teeth. It would hold the bone in place until she could heal it…but that required chakra.

"Let's get going." She finally said as the last of the chunin filed out and began to make their way to safety.

Satisfied they would be alright, she radioed the latest information to Kakashi.

* * *

"Kakashi! Be reasonable!" Kurenai pleaded.

The Hatake eyed her critically for a moment before responding, "I am."

"How?" The genjutsu master replied angrily.

"If those things get beyond our borders, the Great Nations themselves could fall. These are highly specialized killing machines. If we leave our post, we risk giving them access to hundreds of miles of unpatrolled forest. Forest that feeds directly into Suna."

"I'm sorry, Red, but he's right." Anko replied, using Kurenai's pet name in affectionate reference to her eyes.

"Babe, he's right." Asuma added.

Kurenai sighed dejectedly; this was so wrong. They were the most skilled fighters…they should have been fighting. But she knew they really were right: containment had to be their first priority.

* * *

They hadn't even covered a full mile before Sasuke halted them.

"What?" Sakura growled irritably.

He held out his hand impatiently. She glanced at it, rolled her eyes, set her good hand on her hip, and eyed him in the 'So help me, Kami, if you don't tell me what's going on this instant…' way.

"Chakra." He finally replied with equal exasperation.

"I'll make it." She responded dryly as she tried to walk past him.

He caught her arm, pulling her back firmly and growling. She wasn't going anywhere.

Sakura splayed her hand against her forehead in annoyance before hissing, "Fine."

He smirked victoriously as his chakra poured into her with surprising speed and quantity. How he was giving her so much and not feeling it himself was radically unfair in her opinion, considering she trained harder and longer than he did these days. Damn Uchiha bloodline…

"Feel better?" He asked a moment later with an all too Sasuke-ish simper.

Sakura pulled her arm away with a frown of indignation and started down the dark street. With the generators down, it was an entirely new ball game…one in which those creatures had a serious advantage.

"Sasuke…"

"Yes?" He asked pensively.

"Where…where are all of the civilians?"

He stopped, realizing for the first time they _were_ alone in the eerie emptiness of the street. And there was no way they could have evacuated all of them by now…

TBC


	4. Chapter Three: Let the Rain Fall

_**Chapter Three: Let the Rain Fall**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Aliens/Predator Franchise or Naruto!**_

Sakura halted in the middle of the eerily deserted street, feeling irrational panic rise up in her chest. She glanced to Sasuke for support, but saw only his hand resting uneasily on the hilt of his Kusanagi. That unnerved her more than anything though she didn't dare let it show through her carefully maintained semblance of composure.

"Where do we even start?" She wondered aloud.

"In front of us." Sasuke replied flatly.

Sakura's green eyes shot up and towards the hissing creatures that now surrounded them.

"Lady Tsunade is going to kill me…" Sakura sighed resignedly.

He cocked an eyebrow in a silent question.

"The mess when this is over is going to be incredible." She smirked back, her humor creeping into the statement as she tightened her glove over her wrist.

* * *

Naruto woke up and massaged his sore throat, wondering what had hit him. He really didn't have time to ponder it, he realized quickly, as more of those things slinked in the shadows.

'Great…' He thought to himself as he ran through the streets, the things close behind.

* * *

Sakura took a moment to recover her breath, Sasuke behind her fighting for air, as well.

"They're good…" She admitted.

He snorted in response; something akin to his acknowledging something he didn't want to.

"And…" She panted, "I think we're out of weapons."

Sasuke's ebony eyes traveled to the now loose and sagging holster on his thigh and back to the one on his hip. He sighed, straightened his back, and withdrew his katana.

"Don't go too crazy." She replied dryly as her hands came up in a seal.

* * *

Tsunade reached up to brush aside the sweat damp, honey-colored strands of hair sticking to her cheeks and neck. There were so many injured, both infected and not, that it was taking all they had to just stabilize them.

"M'Lady…we have…a bit of an issue…" Iruka began from behind her.

"What?" She asked, caution slipping into her voice despite her attempts to beat it back.

Deep in the tunnels, something echoed angrily.

* * *

"Ugly bastard." Anko remarked easily, her hand on her hip, as she eyed her kill.

"Be careful." Kurenai added, eyeing the nasty acid green ooze that was eating away at everything it touched.

"_I'm_ fine." The kunoichi replied, "Mipsy, not so much…"

"Mipsy?"

Anko produced a snake from her coat, its mouth badly burned by the blood of the creature.

"Is it going to be alright?"

"Hell, yes." Anko smirked, planting a kiss on the serpent's flat head "It takes more than that to kill _my_ baby."

"Do you have any idea how disturbing that is?" The genjutsu master asked.

Anko just shrugged, cooing lightly to the snake as she ran her hand lightly across its scaled body.

Kurenai took that as a 'no'.

* * *

A scream of rage tore through the creature's throat as it snapped its tail as Sakura. The kunoichi flipped back, the blade like projection of its tail narrowly missing her. Pivoting hard on her foot, she grabbed onto the tail and, with a forceful tug, flung the creature over her head and into the ground. Blood spattered in brilliant arcs across several feet and she barely avoided the spatter of acid.

Sliding back on her feet, she found herself very nearly in the arms of one of the creatures. She rocked forward on the balls of her feet, turning hard and snapping her fist against its hissing maw.

"These things just don't know when to quit!" She cried as she leapt back from another.

Sasuke snorted in ascent as he easily sliced through the ribbed carapace of another, dodging the minimal spray of resultant blood. He had quickly learned chest wounds produced massive arcs of the corrosive substance, but knee and head shots, not so much.

The Uchiha forced his blade up, cutting easily through a third. His blade gleamed lethally in the pale moonlight despite the acidic gore dripping from it…the Kusanagi was, quite literally, indestructible…and it cut through _anything_.

Perhaps sensing how badly out done they were, the creatures pulled back…but was that really any surprise, Sakura reasoned…their learning curve was beyond anything she had ever seen outside of humans.

* * *

Naruto crept along the wall, moving as silently as he could. He could hear those things around him, on the other sides of the wall to the left, around the curve. And the last thing he wanted was to attract their attention…

He was so focused on his back that he could hardly stifle the gasp of surprise that nearly escaped his mouth as, when he turned around, he came face to face with one of the serpents. It hissed at him, pulling back its leathery lips, baring oddly glass teeth, and, of all things, stepped aside.

Maybe it was sick or injured, he thought to himself, and that's why it didn't want to risk a conflict.

But to stand around any longer would have been disastrous and, with a kick of chakra to his feet, he took off as silently as he could back down the hall.

* * *

Tsunade called all of the sentinels back into the makeshift citadel and ordered the doors barred and rigged. It was a dangerous gamble, she knew…if they sprung one, it would destroy the doors, leaving them open to the potential of a second wave assault. But it was the best she could do.

* * *

Sakura eyed the massive pile of bodies they had accumulated between them, all oozing the same dangerous and sickly colored blood.

She leaned back against a wall, her head turned up as she tried to catch her breath. Overhead, it seemed as if the gray clouds that had suddenly rolled in would turn against them, too. And sure enough, as they prepared to move out again, they broke and water poured down on them in silvery sheets.

TBC


	5. Chapter Four: Out of the Frying Pan

_**Chapter Four: Out of the frying pan and into the fire**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Aliens franchise!**_

A cry ripped through Sakura's throat as she slammed her fist against another of the serpentine creatures.

"Kami! Do they ever end?!" She cried out between frantic gulps of air.

"Doesn't appear so." Sasuke replied evenly.

"Thanks for that observation." She snapped back as she ducked under the spinal column-like tail of another serpent.

"Let's make this interesting, then." She smirked as she danced back away from them. Her hand slid into the fishnet shirt beneath her crimson tunic, withdrawing several small white bundles. She spun on her heels, letting the reels of line unfurl around her. Chakra spread down them, forming a maze of flexible and shifting scalpels that ate into the creatures around them. She dropped the destroyed lines a moment later as she kicked back on her heel to escape the next wave.

"We should get to the underground tunnels. We can regroup there." Sasuke suggested, shaking blood from his katana.

"Agreed." Sakura replied as she turned on her heels and followed after him.

* * *

"Hurry up!" Sakura cried as he fiddled with the door.

He growled at her, forcing the tip of his blade between the stone door jamb. With a decisive flick of his wrist, the door creaked open. Sakura, her back turned to him, suddenly found herself tossed inside by the fabric of her shirt. A moment later, he jammed the door shut with a few kunai.

"Damn it…" Sakura sighed the moment her eyes adjusted to the dark…and to the slimy resin covering the walls…

* * *

Naruto ran along the wall, sprinting past the serpents that, though they hissed threateningly, made no move to follow or strike an initial blow.

"Oh, yes! They finally get it!" He cried to himself as he wheeled around a corner.

* * *

"Lovely…" Sakura commented dryly as she picked herself back up. "Small space, low chance of success, trapped on all sides…just our kind of place."

"Stop complaining." Sasuke replied flatly.

"Make me." She snipped back not unpleasantly.

"You really are annoying."

"And you wouldn't have it any other way."

He grunted in reply as he drew his sword and she pulled back her hair. There were several miles of tunnel to navigate, and not a lot of time or room for error. And, as if on cue, there was the hiss she had been waiting for and the shift in light as the creatures slinked from the shadows.

"Ready?" She asked, her hair bobbing in a fan behind her as she adjusted her stance.

The sheen of his sword as he raised it was response enough for both of them.

"Pull your punches." He finally grunted as the creatures moved in.

Sakura nodded; she knew she would have to all along. With the entire Kage Monument above them, she could hardly afford to bring down the house. Besides, anything stronger than about a tenth of her strength shattered their exoskeletons, spraying the area in acidic blood.

"I'll go in first…"

Sakura shot past him without so much as a backward glance. Sighing in irritation to himself, he leapt in close behind her.

"Reckless." He commented.

"Fiery." She corrected as she spun into the horde.

* * *

"Use it against them!" Tsunade cried when some of their odd resin began to leak through the stone cracks. She already knew it was of incredible strength, so why not use it to board up the door? It was one of the last ditch plans she was pulling out of thin air, but this one had a fair chance of working.

* * *

Naruto wiped away a thin tendril of red from his nostril with his thumb as he ran, skirting the creatures by mere inches on more than one occasion. But he couldn't afford to let a dry nose stop him now. Lady Tsunade needed him to bide them some time.

He never saw the tail lash that sent him sprawling against the mucus-like resin and knocked him into oblivion.

* * *

"This isn't working." Sakura commented as she wiped sweat away from her forehead, resting her hands on her knees to try and catch her breath.

"Obviously." Sasuke replied.

"Don't be a jackass." She responded.

He gave his usual half-hum, half-grunt response that left the listener scrambling for their own translation. But she was far from in the right mood to deal with it.

"Okay, this isn't working, we've got that." She finally stated, "So, I say we go to Plan B."

"And that is?" He asked dryly.

"You're the genius." She commented back.

He glared sidelong at her before sighing and drawing his sword again.

"Oh, come on! I thought for sure you had something up your sleeve." She sighed.

"I could say the same of you."

"Well…"

"Yes?"

"It's not pleasant."

"Continue."

"How do you feel about using the Sharigan?"

"Not so hot." He responded flatly with a shrug.

"Well, it's either that, or this mess." She replied shortly, referring to their ineffective strike-draw back-strike again tactic that was costing them time and gaining them little ground.

"Fine." He snorted.

"Great! There's just one catch…"

"Yes?"

"For this to work on these things, we're going to need something more primal than what you're used to using."

"Such as?"

"Well…" She thought for a moment, "These things are pretty driven to reproduce…can you synthesize that pheromone in your illusion?"

"I haven't ever had to try." He replied.

"First time for everything." She quipped back.

Sasuke didn't bother replying as color shot into his eyes and the toma deep in his irises began to spin.

A moment later, the creatures scattered back into the depths of the tunnels.

"Wow…" Sakura trailed off. "That was…effective…"

* * *

Naruto's eyes fluttered open weakly, and he realized he was hopelessly pinned against the wall and covered in their odd resin. His breath came in weak gasps, and he soon fell back against the wall.

* * *

Sakura leapt over one of them, coming down hard on the back of another. She pushed off of it, flipping through the air and narrowly avoiding another pack.

Behind her, blue light flooded the tunnel as Sasuke's hand pushed through them. The heat produced by the Chidori was more than enough to crystallize their blood into harmless gobs of lime green.

"We're making good time." Sakura remarked as she glanced down the hall. She couldn't see the next wave, but she could hear their lethal hiss and skitter of their nails on the walls.

He snorted, giving his blade a rough flick to clear it of their acid green blood. Of course, it had no effect on it, but it was still unsightly and a bit of a hazard.

She turned to face him and he realized how deep the circles under her eyes were. He wondered what time it was, and realized it couldn't have been after ten o'clock. His senses had already confirmed that, although he didn't want to believe it.

Sakura, in the same moment, extended her hand and captured his face gently. Her eyes softened as she looked at the shadows under his blood-red eyes.

But whatever tenderness or comfort their might have been in that moment was erased by a thin hiss that issued from the deep shadows behind them.

* * *

Sakura fell back against the wall, oblivious to the resin that coated her skin and chilled her as she fought to catch her breath. Her diaphragm was racked by rough spasms and she gasped for several seconds before she managed to gain some air.

She forced herself back up onto her feet as Sasuke's breathing calmed, too.

They didn't ask if the other was ready, they just ran. However, Sakura wasn't ready for what she saw when she rounded the corner.

Shock stayed her and then she cried out, "NARUTO!"

TBC


	6. Chapter Five: Rise Above

_**Chapter Five: Rise Above**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Aliens/Predator Franchise!**_

Sakura threw herself at him, her hand clawing through the sticky resin as she fought to free him.

"Wake up!" She cried, clinging to his chest. Her vision misted with unshed tears.

His eyes fluttered open, and she felt relief shoot through her. She resisted the impulsive urge to smack him for getting himself into such a situation.

"Idiot." She sniffed happily as she cut him free with her last kunai.

"Hey…Sakura."

She didn't like the way he said it…His usual joy, his usual excitement was absent from his voice. His words weren't exactly slurred, but they were slow…almost hesitant.

"Naruto…are you okay?" She asked, flexing her wrist against his forehead.

He brushed her away all too slowly as he found his feet again, nodding shakily. His eyes…they weren't on her…

"Time to get moving."

Sakura's head snapped up to the sound of Sasuke's voice and the metallic draw of his katana form its sheath. Her eyes followed the line of his…She nodded sharply as the dim light played across numerous moist and skeletal figures, hissing in the darkness and ready to charge.

Automatically, she hooked her arm around Naruto and began to ran, trusting him to keep his feet moving.

They hadn't moved very far when she was suddenly pulled down by Naruto. His dead weight fell to the floor, and it was all she could do to keep standing herself.

"Naruto!" She fell to her knees, gathering him into her arms, "What's wrong?"

She heard him groan, and reflexively she laid her hand against his chest to comfort him…It was all she could do to stay her scream as something _moved _beneath her palm.

"No…" She breathed, as if her wish, her will, could change the truth that squirmed beneath his flesh.

"Sasuke…" She looked to him, and he nodded; shakily, she remembered to breath.

Something clicked inside of her: she was a medic...and there was _no _doubt she could do this. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts before she tore his jacket open. Her vision tunneled and rested on his chest; Sasuke would take care of the rest.

Chakra poured into her hands, blood, hot and violent, sprayed against her, and she felt the movement around her hands. She ignored the spray of gore against her chest and face as she dug wrist-deep into his chest.

She felt that _thing _move around her; she felt it strike her hand in a vain attempt to save itself. This one was bigger…more mature, more violent, than the ones she had encountered before. It was different, somehow, but she didn't have time to contemplate that.

Bone cracked and more blood splashed against her as it tore through his chest. It leapt at her in a flurry of black skin, red blood, and the snap of white teeth.

"Go to hell!" She whispered as she batted it away with her hand so hard that it literally exploded upon impact against the opposite wall.

She felt his heart quiver weakly, and she realized with horror how great the damage to his system was.

"No! Naruto! Stay with us!" She cried to him, closing her eyes as she forced more of her waning chakra into her hands.

The world shimmered and she felt it fade around her. Something hot and wrong washed against her, and her eyes instinctively snapped open.

"Y…You…" She whispered weakly as her eyes fell on the massive creature in front of her. And those iron bars and seals between them did nothing to ease the overwhelming fear that gripped her.

Its dark laughter rose above the yellow and sickly water that pooled around her waist.

"Foolish human." It sneered, "Venturing into my domain."

Sakura steeled herself before it; there wasn't time for weakness, there wasn't time for indecision.

"Help me." She demanded, her fists balling at her side.

"Why would I do that?" It asked, its sick laughter trailing its statement.

"Because if he dies, so do you." She replied, her lips pulling up in a smirk.

It stared at her, its lips pulling back to reveal sharp fangs nearly as large as she was…and then it laughed.

"Death would release me from this prison of flesh."

Sakura felt her heart fall, felt all hope drain from her body.

"You really are sick…" She whispered, resisting the urge to collapse to her suddenly weak knees.

It continued to stare at her in apparent amusement.

Something rose up in her…maybe it was the spirit Tsunade instilled in her…maybe it was the Will of Fire…hell, maybe it was just a flash of irrational rebellion and rash hope…

"But," Her lips pulled up again, "I'll save him with or without your help."

She turned away, willing her legs to move. She refused to look back, and far ahead of her the darkness gave way to a faint point of light. But it grew stronger and realer with each step…

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Naruto's torn chest and her own blood-slick hands deep in his body.

"You're coming back to us" She whispered as the glow emanating from her hands grew.

Pure, unrestrained power grew around her in an ethereal green halo. She was floating beyond the reach of the Kyuubi, beyond the teeth and claws of the serpents around them…There was nothing but her and the growing heartbeat pulsing beneath her hands. Nothing but life and the death she was staving off.

How much time passed between the three of them, locked in their life and death struggle, was a complete mystery. But when her chakra finally did die back, she realized that she had saved him alone…

His wounds were closing before her very eyes, and she couldn't help but smile.

She leaned down, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered, "Thank you." She wasn't sure if the creature deep inside of him heard or even understood her, but she couldn't help but feel an irrational affection for the demon that had proven it just might have a heart.

Naruto's eyes flickered open, and he moaned in protest of his position.

Sakura stood up, helping him to his feet in the same motion as he noisily asked what had happened.

"We don't have time to explain." Sakura told him, "But we have work to do."

* * *

They ran, their breath coming in ragged pants as they rounded the corner, weaving beneath the deadly living tapestry that seemed intent on consuming them.

Sakura leapt up, spinning as she came down and narrowly avoiding a deadly tail lash. Behind her, Naruto somersaulted over the claws of another as Sasuke cut cleanly through a set of three.

But all three of them froze for a fraction of a second as a chakra signature like death itself struck them…

"Orochimaru." Sasuke stated coolly as he flicked his sword up again.

"You don't think…How could he…." Sakura stammered as she danced around another assault.

"The radio transmissions." Sasuke told her, "He must have hacked them."

"If he gets a hold of one of these things…" Sakura trailed off---there was no doubt as to the havoc he would wreck. And given the reproductive capabilities of the creatures and their innate tenacity and viciousness there would be no stopping him…Whole nations might fall overnight…

Sakura reeled on her heel, slamming her fist against a section of wall. It burst open, and they scrambled through the meager opening.

"I'll go after Orochimaru." Naruto hastily volunteered as his eyes fell on the mess before them.

"Sure," Sakura sighed as she eyed the hall of hissing serpents, "Leave us with all the hard work."

"Just hurry." Sasuke stated icily as he eyed the living, writhing black mass that was boxing them in.

Naruto didn't even respond as he slipped back through the opening, no doubt already on the trail of the Snake Sannin.

* * *

The Sannin spat in disgust as the death throes of the creature at his feet.

"Lord Orochimaru, really now." Kabuto stated in a mild chastisement. "We need an intact specimen."

The Sannin just smirked sickly as his plague-colored eyes fell on the next one.

"Hold it _right _there!"

They both turned in annoyance to the overly boisterous voice; really, he was an insult to the shinobi way…

"You're not going anywhere!" Naruto cried in early triumph as he pointed an accusing finger at them. "Not unless you go through me first!"

"I think that can be arranged." Orochimaru hissed, his unnaturally long tongue running across his white lips.

* * *

Sakura refused to stop, no matter how her chest burned and her legs protested. No matter how her keirakukei network fought against her attempts to gather chakra that didn't seem to be there. She wasn't going to stop…not until it was over…

She jumped up, tucking her legs beneath her body as she evaded the whip of a skeletal tail. She came down too hard, too clumsily, and very nearly lost her balance. Her foot snapped out automatically as she caught herself.

But the next moment she found herself on the ground. She wasn't even entirely sure of what had hit her…not until she heard the sudden slap of sandals on the floor and saw the flash of silver rain down in front of her.

"You're slowing down." Sasuke commented as he flicked his sword clean of the gore.

It was said without even his usual chill. It was a statement of fact; but it _pissed _her off. Her eyes narrowed, and she felt her chakra spike in her chest as she glared at him.

His eyes fell on her and he appraised her coolly for a moment.

"No. I'm not." She snapped as she found the strength to rise again.

She shot past him in a blur of pink and red, a shadow of graceful destruction. He sighed mentally as he pushed forward after her.

TBC


	7. Chapter Six: Tripartite Seal Release

_**Chapter Six: Tripartite Seal Release: Hell Hath No Fury like Three**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Alien/Predator Franchise!**_

Sakura stumbled and fell, and for a moment it was all she could do to keep breathing, let alone rise. Something black blurred next to her, and the next thing she knew she was back on her feet in Sasuke's arms.

"Hey!" She protested as he continued to run.

He didn't reply as he leapt up and over a break in the floor that was alive with hissing serpents. He released her in midair, and she easily landed beside him. They kicked off of the ground simultaneously, taking off in a spring.

"We can't last much longer." Sakura huffed.

Sasuke grunted in reply; he was better at hiding it than she was, but he was running just as low on chakra. And on willpower…

Ahead of them, at the junction between four corridors, something else flashed: an orange streak.

The three figures merged as they sprinted straight ahead.

"How did it go?" Sakura asked.

"Can't say." Naruto replied sheepishly.

"What…do…you…mean?!" Sakura demanded.

"I was hot on their tail…but there are too many of these damned things."

"And they're getting thicker…" She muttered to herself.

She suddenly remembered something…all of the tunnels connected to one central chamber that had been out of use for years...

"Hold on." She told them as she sprinted out in front of them.

With a cry, her fist collided with the last divider between them and that chamber. It wouldn't have mattered anyway…they only had one way to go now.

Still…she wasn't ready for the sight that greeted her there.

"Oh…my…" She trailed off, taking an instinctive step back.

"What the hell is it?" Naruto asked as he appeared beside her.

Sakura's eyes raked over the massive creature, at least twenty feet tall, that lay hissing before them, surrounded by eggs and companions that were much larger versions of the serpents they had been fighting all along. And her eyes fell on the pulsing egg sack that hung from her belly, and back up to the massive head crest.

"A queen…" She muttered.

Her viridian gaze quickly fell on the massive creatures that had rallied to their mistress' defense; they were at least eight feet tall each, had razor claws and head crests similar to hers…

"This…is a hive…" Sakura trailed off.

Sasuke's obsidian gaze fell back to the writhing carpet of serpents before them and the much more dangerous threat in front of them; they were surrounded by the weird spider like young of the queen, her drones, personal guards…

He made his choice: He had wanted power for all the wrong reasons. But now he was going to use Orochimaru's _gift _for good…

He closed his eyes, let his will slide away…and felt a rush of chakra consume him. A bloody veil dropped over his eyes as inky black streaks bled across his skin.

Naruto met his eyes and nodded as red began to swirl around him. Deep, jagged marks appeared on his cheeks, and his pupils contracted and stretched vertically.

His voice was far too deep when he finally spoke, "Let's go, Sasuke."

High, feminine laughter filled the empty air between them. They turned automatically to Sakura, who eyed them with some feeling they couldn't tack down.

"You guys…" She sighed not unhappily. "I thought I made myself clear: You're not leaving me behind anymore."

She snorted sarcastically, waving both of them off. "You…aren't the only two."

She stepped between them and grasped the zipper of her shirt. With a single, long pull, she released the crimson fabric from her torso and shrugged it off. Tossing it aside carelessly, she ran her thumb across her bare collarbone, visible just over the edge of her black, one-strap, fishnet undergarment. Something glinted deep purple against her pale flesh as her hand dropped away from her chest.

"Let's make things…interesting." She smirked as it shimmered and began to grow in intricate twists along her body.

"Sakura, no!" Sasuke snapped.

She just smiled as she tilted her head back, letting the wave of color and chakra consume her.

The backlash of energy that emanated from her was so powerful that neither of them could help but take a step backward. They had never imagined she would have such a vast reserve.

And just as quickly, the purple lace faded back into her skin.

Sakura's eyes fell like liquid emerald daggers on the first guard as it launched itself, razor-sharp talons, snapping teeth, acid blood and all at them…Not even Sasuke saw her move. There was only the high-pitched shriek of pain from the creature as it was rendered into four pieces.

As a lump of charred flesh fell at his feet, Sasuke realized she had upgraded her chakra scalpel: she wasn't just cutting them into bits…she was cauterizing them with a white-hot liquid blade.

"Fiesty." Naruto smirked with apparently approval.

Sasuke just shrugged. They had work to do…and they couldn't let Sakura have all of the fun.

He leapt after her, spinning into a guard sword first and sprinting away from the resultant spray of acidic blood. Behind him, Naruto's red chakra ate through the carapace of another, reducing it to a thick green soup on the floor.

It took the three of them less than five seconds to render the queen's guard to nothingness.

But…they weren't prepared for the tear of flesh and shriek of pure hatred that emanated from the queen as she tore away from her egg sack. In a single, massive leap, she covered the distance between them.

A single lash of her massive tail sent Sasuke flying, and the jarring impact was more than enough to knock him into oblivion.

Naruto reached in vain for his comrade, trying to stay his tumble into nothingness. But before his eyes could register her movement, the queen's nails had caught in his stomach and with a single, brutal heft of her arm she sent him crashing to the floor.

Sakura's glowing green eyes fell on the monster as it lowered its head and bellowed a shriek of rage and triumph.

"You bitch." She commented coolly as she adjusted her right glove. "I know I probably should have warned you earlier, but _no one and nothing_ messed with them."

Sakura's lips pulled up in a vindictive smirk as she kicked off of the ground.

A fraction of a second later, she landed lightly on the other side of the creature. As if confused, it tried to turn to look at her…but in doing so it tore its own head from its neck. The weight of her massive crest pulled her spine down, and with a wet pop, her spinal column snapped.

"Hey, Naruto! Sasuke! Wake up! We still have work to do!" She commented playfully as she rose.

Both of them pulled themselves to their feet, smirking in vicarious triumph. It took less than a second for them to meet each other and turn their tripled gaze on the furious horde of serpents.

"Let's give 'em hell." Naruto smiled, his crimson eyes glittering.

"My pleasure." Sakura replied as she tossed her hair away from her eyes.

"Don't leave anything standing." Sasuke commented coolly as he flipped his katana into place.

"I didn't plan on it." Naruto snapped back.

TBC


	8. Epilogue: Dawn

_**Epilogue: Dawn**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Aliens/Predator Franchise. **_

Tsunade looked on as her shinobi proceeded to clean up the disaster area that was Konoha: they had literal tons of resin to clean up, corpses bursting with highly acidic fluid to dispose of, bodies that needed burying, structures that need repairing…thinking about all of it made her head ache and gave her a sudden craving for some strong alcohol. But she pushed aside the thought as the troops of Jonin approached her from the gates.

"We've informed the other nations that our containment and extermination protocol was a success." Kurenai told her.

"And there have been no reports of these things, in any of their life stages, in the immediate area of Konoha's border or beyond." Anko added.

"Excellent. You should all go home and get some rest now." Tsunade told them, waving them off.

Naturally, most of them were more than happy to comply; it had been a long night for them. But she also knew before she ever gave the order that she would still be staring down one, lone figure.

"Yes, Kakashi?" She asked.

"How did they do?" He asked with an eye-crease.

For a moment, Tsunade contemplated that; it was his version of a smile; that much was for sure. But did she detect a hint of anxiety behind his cool exterior? Then again, he had been alone for so long that it was only natural that he would consider his one, successful squad his children, his comrades, his family.

"They did Konoha proud." She told him with a smile.

"Oh, really?" He asked with a relief that only she could see, "And where are they now?"

Tsunade motioned over her shoulder, and his eyes followed her hand as she stepped aside.

"Goodness." He commented good-naturedly as his visible eye fell on them.

They were crowded onto a single bench: Sakura's head had fallen against the curve of Sasuke's neck, and his head was resting on top of hers. Naruto was laid out, using Sakura's lap as a pillow, and she had her right hand resting on his back; her left was twined with Sasuke's.

And all three of them were fast asleep.

But that small moment of content after the wave of battle was swept aside by Kakashi; something about the whole situation was wrong.

"Do you think these were biological weapons produced by Oto?" He asked.

"Unlikely," Tsunade sighed, "They encountered Orochimaru; he seemed intent on _obtaining _a specimen, not on observing a creation that was already his."

"And are you certain that the creatures have been wholly disposed of?" He asked.

"As sure as we can be. For now, anyway." The Fifth replied.

Kakashi nodded; in there world, time was often the deciding factor. And there was little he, or she, could do to change that, particularly given the circumstances they were under.

"And Orochimaru?"

"We're not sure." Tsunade shrugged. "All of the evidence suggests that he was overwhelmed in that corridor. But…it's just too clean, Kakashi."

Kakashi's visible eyed steeled---Orochimaru never would have succumbed to those creatures, no matter how great their numbers. And if he had thought for a moment that he would, he would have been sure to take all of Konoha with him as he died.

Momentarily disturbed his intimate insight into the madman, Kakashi realized something else: It was highly unlikely that Orochimaru had left empty-handed…

And they still didn't have even the foggiest clue as to the origin of the creatures. With so many years of historical records on the subject of covert warfare between nations, it was impossible for them to be an old weapon that was only just now being found and used again. And the sheer sophistication of the creatures made it almost as unlikely that they were a new weapon. Furthermore, it was incredibly improbable that Oto, a relatively young nation, had the technology to accomplish a project of that scale. As a jonin intimately familiar with the classified works of Konoha and their equipment and expertise, he knew that even they wouldn't have been able to complete a development like that in a decade. But there was no denying that these creatures seemed _made _for the purpose of destroying a people used to fighting with strategy and skill. This was the exact opposite, in every way, shape and form, from what they were adept to fight with the speed and precision they were known for.

"Kakashi, stop." Tsunade smirked as her red-lacquered hand came down on his shoulder, "There's been enough thinking to last us until the week is out."

Tsunade smirked a little at the irony of the statement: thinking to fight creatures that didn't think in the way they did.

"You can only do so much in one night, Kakashi. And, you know, we haven't done too badly. Hell, we saved not only Konoha but maybe even the world from complete collapse in twelve hours. And you should be particularly proud. Your students almost single-handedly did all the dirty work." She added with a fond glance at the sleeping chunin.

The Kage sighed a moment later as she withdrew her hand and raked it through her honey-colored hair. There was still a lot to do. And even more political nonsense to take care of: their allied nations would want samples of the creatures as well as full briefs on their procedure for dealing with them. Then there would be reports to collect from those who had fought the creatures head on, descriptions from the survivors whose bodies had been host to the second life stage of the creatures. There would be hypothetical papers to comply on the nature of the hives, theories on their behavior, ideas on their innate hierarchy, studies on the corpses to determine anatomical differences between the basic drones and the guards, and queen…there might even be more sub-categories---they would know as soon as the autopsies began…which would be no easy feat given the highly lethal nature of the creatures, right down to their blood.

But maybe some good could come of it: maybe those creatures would lead to a medical breakthrough of some kind…maybe they could synthesize their blood for use as an organic weapon, or a cauterizing agent, if they could get the chemical formula right…The possibilities were there, and that gave her some drive to do what needed to be done.

Behind her, Sakura's eyes fluttered open for a fraction of a second and she thought she saw an odd distortion, just beyond the Konoha gates…it…it was like a heat haze, but it had a definite shape…

Her eyes closed again, and without realizing it, she had simply written it off as exhaustion.

Fin.


End file.
